(June 24, 2010) - How do you count the moments that made Frank Kimmel the man he is? Kimmel is much more than a nine-time champion and ARCA Racing Series Presented by RE/MAX and Menards legend; he is a family man, an old-school racer, and a role model.
Frank Kimmel is the man that has proven that being a nine-time ARCA champion with over 74 wins and 41 poles isn't the only way you can define him. While records show the solid proof that Kimmel has what it takes to be an absolute dominant force on the track, they fail to acknowledge his many achievements as a loving father, coach, businessman, team owner, and even a race fan apart from the track. Staying true to his upbringing as "true old-school" racer, whether it's fending racecar drivers off his back bumper to serving as a role model to his two children, Kimmel has proven that he is "the man" on and off the track and has done it in admirable fashion.
Growing Up
The most crucial and influential moment along Kimmel's road to success can't be defined by a single event. It isn't the first time he strapped into a racecar, it isn't the first time he drove away with a checkered flag in his hand, and it isn't the time he won his first ARCA Racing Series Presented by RE/MAX and Menards championship. Instead, it's Kimmel's early childhood and father's guidance that's responsible for not only his accomplishments on the track, but his success as a role model and family man off the track.
Being the youngest son in a family with seven children, Kimmel was raised surrounded by the asphalt and four turns of a racetrack. His father, an extremely competitive racecar driver in the 1950s and ‘60s, remarkably supported his family solely off of his short-track racing earnings. At a very young age, Kimmel was exposed to what it meant to truly be an "old-school racer" and the impression has never ceased to influence him.
"He taught us a lot about work ethic and that the racecar isn't just a piece of machinery that you go out on a racetrack with," said Kimmel of his father's lesson. "Your racecar is something that carries you to the finish that you want. The better prepared your racecar is, the better finish you should be able to get at the end of the day."
"He also taught us a lot about getting the cars ready and getting prepared for the track," he said. "He always reminded us that you have to finish the race and get to the end of the race because you didn't get a paycheck if you led first 50 laps - you get a paycheck if you led the last 50 laps."
The important lessons Kimmel's father taught him about respect and preparation were not just limited to success at the racetrack; they were also lessons that were to influence his everyday life.
"We've learned a lot of valuable lessons from the true old-time racer who raced because he loved the sport," said Kimmel of his father's impact - an impact that remains everlasting.
The Family Man
Knowing that his father instilled in him many of the values he still lives by today, Kimmel constantly makes an effort to provide the same influence for his two children, Holly and Frank Kimmel II (Frankie). While living the life in the fast lane requires many sacrifices, like having a limited time at home, Kimmel has done a flawless job balancing his career with his family. At the end of the day, Kimmel attributes much of his stability to his family, especially his wife Donna.
"I think it all comes back to your family," said Kimmel. "Donna and I, we have been married almost 25 years now, and she's been around me and racing the entire time we've been together. She understood the racing deal and what it was going to take to have success and do well. If you don't have that kind of support at home, then you just can't do it. She makes it easier for me to travel and helps me the best she can while also helping herself and both the kids too. It's just made everything a lot better."
Not only does Kimmel have the constant support of his wife, he also has the steady support of his children - a pertinent factor that allows the family to remain close together. Returning the favor, Kimmel has made his children a number one priority in his life and has never ceased to have their best interests in mind. Even when his kids were going through middle school, Kimmel made sure he was there to be their number one fans, volunteering as assistant coach on a number of their youth sports teams. Today, Kimmel still has the opportunity to cheer for his children, especially when he sees his son sitting behind the steering wheel of a street stock at local short tracks.
"It's always really exciting to see your child do something that you love to do too, no matter what the sport is - whether its racing, baseball, basketball, football, whatever," said Kimmel. "With Frankie, if he wants to be a racecar driver and do that sort of thing, it's great. I'll help in any way I possibly can. On the other hand, if he doesn't and he'd rather do something in the background, that's okay too. Even if he doesn't want to do something with racing at all, it's all up to him."
With the potential possibility that Frankie will start climbing the stock car ranks just like his father, Kimmel is confident that if his son decides to move forward, he will be there to help him make that next step. That's because in 2008, Kimmel and his brother Bill decided to establish themselves not just as drivers, but team owners as well, and they created Kimmel Racing. While Kimmel Racing was not only a team built to further the success of Frank Kimmel's success in the ARCA series, it was also founded on the prospect that Frank's and Bill's sons, Frankie and Will respectively, would one day enter into motorsports.
"I'm very fortunate because I think they (Frankie and Will) will have the opportunity to do what they really want to do when they decide what that is," said Kimmel. "If they follow in the racing deal and stay in the sport, that's great. Racing is something we have loved as a family forever.
"When we (Frank and Bill) decided to start our own team, we knew that we better start our own program with our own equipment so that we could have something to build upon - somewhere where we can grow," said Kimmel. "In the end, that's what we're doing so that if our children decide to move forward then we'll be able to give them some basis to do it."
A Fan of Fans
While Kimmel spends the majority of his time as a fierce competitor on the track, he has also spent plenty of time at racetracks as a spectator in the stands. Whether it has been to watch his father, his son, his nephew, or even the number of drivers who compete in his personally developed Street Stock series, Kimmel has had countless experiences as a fan surrounded by fans, and it's allowed him to develop a strong appreciation for every single one of them.
"I think I understand the fans a lot more than other people, and I think it's because I enjoy racing. I enjoy going to watch racing at local short tracks and being around it," said Kimmel. "I'm definitely a fan myself in many ways."
"I think it's amazing that we have fans come out and sit in the rain or blistering hot weather - whatever it takes to watch us race," said Kimmel. "It's just a really cool thing to think that people will do that. I believe that they're paying good hard-earned money - they're people that work 40 to 50 hours a week trying to raise their families, and you look up and there's four or five them coming in the gate who are there to watch you race. I think that for the most part that racers, and even myself, need to understand that if these fans don't come to the races and don't pay that ticket price, then we can't be out there on the track doing what we love to do. We have to understand that the fans are the reason we're there."
Throughout his racing career Kimmel has had many memorable encounters with his fans that constantly remind him why he does what he does. While some experiences have left him laughing, emotional or just plain shocked, one of Kimmel's favorite fan moments left him amazed.
"One of the funniest things I remember was during a race at Michigan when we were in a rain delay," s said Kimmel. "While the people sitting in the stands were waiting for the rain to quit, they had the opportunity to text something that would be put up on the big jumbo screen at the track. Our group (Kimmel and the team) started interacting with the fans all the way across the infield and the racetrack to up in the grandstands. We were trying to do a wave and things like that. It's just amazing to me that our race fans are so dedicated and they really do a lot for us."
Sponsorship Appreciation
While Kimmel appreciates all of the support race fans provide for him and the sport, he is also extremely grateful for his Ansell and Menards sponsorship support. From Kimmel's perspective, working with a sponsor isn't just a one-way street with money and support flowing from the sponsor to driver; instead, the driver-sponsor relationship should be seen as more of a "partnership".
"It's interesting because you hear the term sponsorship a lot, but really it's a partnership," said Kimmel. "Ansell and Menards have been absolutely tremendous and both companies make us feel that way - like we're a partnership. They want us to go out and succeed on the racetrack because they're competitive and they want to see wins in the win column. They want to be known as a good race team and we all need to make sure we can go out and do the things that were supposed to do, and do them as a team."
Why Kimmel Will Always be The Man
While Kimmel's 400th career start is happening in just a few short weeks during the ARCA Racing Series race at Iowa Speedway, it's apparent that this old-school racer isn't backing down any time soon. Kimmel has certainly shown the racing community just what it means to be champion, while also showing fans, family, and competitors alike what it means to be a family man, team player, and even a humble victor. Kimmel has achieved and witnessed many milestones throughout his career, and with every milestone that he surpasses, he continues to prove why he will always be "The Man."
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